Shop 'Till you Drop
by Planet Mads
Summary: Set between ‘Citadel of Doom’ and ‘The Shard of Lightning.’ Raimundo has a new look in ‘The Shard of Lightning.’ Would made him decide to change his outfit and what part does Kimiko play in it? RaiKim hints.


Title: Shop 'Till you Drop.

Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown. End of story err . . . disclaimer.

Rating: K+.

Summary: Set between 'Citadel of Doom' and 'The Shard of Lightning.' Raimundo has a new look in 'The Shard of Lightning.' Would made him decide to change his outfit and what part does Kimiko play in it? RaiKim hints.

Shopping was one of the things Kimiko was best at. She was the shopping queen. No one had ever tried to take her title, not that they could. Shopping was one of Kimiko's expertise and all the other dragons knew it. Even if it was for something simple, like a new set of cutlery, Kimiko would be able to find the nicest looking, and most suitable, set as well as being able to bargain the price down to at least half its original price. As a result she was the one who usually went shopping for all the Xiaolin Dragons essentials.

So, on her normal fortnightly Saturday shopping trip, she was extremely surprised to find Raimundo at the town centre as well.

The boy in question was staring at the window of one of the clothes shops. Hopping from one foot to the other, uncertainly. The usually smug grin on his face was gone and instead he was chewing nervously on his bottom lip. Though Kimiko would never admit it out loud she thought he looked rather cute at the moment. Shaking that thought from her head, she tossed her hair over her shoulder and walked over.

"Rai?"

The brunette spun round, his eyes widening slightly with surprise before his usual cocky expression settled into place again. He immediately stopped moving from one foot to another, stuffing his fists into his pockets. Looking like the picture of coolness once more. Kimiko almost felt disappointed. Almost.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing _here_?"

Kimiko winced when she realised how accusatory that had sounded. It had only been a few weeks since Raimundo had come back to the temple. And though they had all wanted him back, that kind of trust was hard to earn back. He had betrayed them in more ways then one and it was going to take a while for him to earn back their trust. He knew that, he knew that very well because he had tried his hardest to put an extra effort into his work even if he acted as if he didn't care. They had all decided to bring it up as little as possible but sometimes it was hard to do. It slipped from their tongues like venom slips from a snake's.

And she hated herself for it.

"No need to sound so bloody suspicious." Raimundo muttered, turning to look the other way. His fists forced deeper into his pockets as he glared into the distance.

"Ah, I-" Kimiko stuttered, suddenly finding her voice caught in her throat. She didn't know what to say, it was such a delicate matter. How was she supposed to apologise without bringing the subject up again?

"It's alright."

She turned to look at her fellow Dragon, though he refused to look back at her still. But he wasn't glaring at the air any more and he seemed more relaxed. His shoulders weren't hunched and one of his hands was idly playing with his medallion.

"Anyway," He said turning to look at her, one eyebrow rising as he did so. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Kimiko rolled her eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Raimundo was letting her off; he understood that she hadn't really meant it like that. He was telling her to forget it, to forget it like all the other times she had accidentally hurt him. A grin spread fully across her lips. Typical Rai.

"I'm shopping; I need some new hair dye. You?"

"Shopping." He muttered and turned round and walked off. Kimiko scowled after him. She didn't like being dismissed, as a child the only people who had ever done so were her parents. And they very rarely had. It wasn't something she was use to. She had always been treated like a princess back home. But here, at the Xiaolin Temple, all four of them were equal. They had the right to dismiss each other if they wanted. Well, that was until they had all been promoted and Raimundo hadn't. Their new found power might have gone to their heads a bit, especially Omi. She shouldn't have been surprised that Rai had been upset. She shouldn't have been surprised that they had hurt Raimundo. She shouldn't have been surprised that they had driven him into taking action.

She couldn't change past but she could make up for her mistakes.

Acting like an idiot back then was a bad thing. Letting Rai dismiss would her be like saying, 'you're below me but I'll let you dismiss me this time round to make you feel better.' She wouldn't, couldn't, do that to him. He was her equal, in her mind anyway. She would let him know that by acting like they always had.

As equals.

"Hey Rai, wait up!" Racing after him, she grabbed the sleeve of the boy's t-shirt. Tugging on it to indicate that she wanted him to stop him moving. He halted, looking at from underneath his bangs.

"Yeah?"

"What are you shopping for?" She asked, rummaging around in her bag for her phone.

"You know Girl, it's got nothing to do with you." There was no real venom behind the words. She knew that because he took a step forward before stopping again, waiting for her to finish fiddling around with her stuff. Grinning at the silent invitation Kimiko zipped her bag up and linked her arms with his and started walking.

They didn't really talk as they walked. Which was odd in itself. Though Kimiko had to admit she rather enjoyed the feeling of Rai being so close to her. He didn't seem to mind that he had linked arms with a girl and was walking around in broad daylight for all to see. Usually his image was extremely important to him. But his ego had deflated a bit since the whole Wuya fiasco. Not that anyone had really noticed, he still acted like an egoistic ass. But sometimes if you watched him really closely you could catch the glimpses of his more matured side. Like when he helped Clay set up all his practise targets for his lasso. Or how he helped Omi with researching the Shen Gong Wu in the scroll. Like when he told them all that Master Fung had said to go bed so he could clean up all the equipment for them instead. Or when he let her do little things like link arms with him, just to make her feel like she was back at home with her gal pals.

"You gonna tell me what you're shopping for?"

Raimundo didn't answer. He just continued to walk at a steady pace. His arm warm against her own.

"Come on Rai, tell me!" She wailed, sending him a glare and tugging on his arm. Raimundo remained silent. His gaze never leaving the horizon as they walked. Kimiko frowned, turning her eyes to her newly acquired boots that were clopping as they walked along.

"Please?" She whispered, not daring to look up at him. Not daring to see if he was frowning darkly again, like he did whenever she _really_ annoyed him.

"I-I need a new wardrobe."

Kimiko turned round, surprise on her face. Partly because Rai had told her, partly because he had stuttered. Raimundo _never_ stuttered.

"But you like your look. You've always gotten at me for buying the latest fashions and you haven't outgrown them. So why do you need more clothes?"

Raimundo didn't answer her. Instead he took to fiddling with his medallion again, another habit she found rather endearing. Sighing, she shook her head.

"It doesn't really matter."

It did. It did matter. Everything about Raimundo mattered to her, not that she would ever tell him that. But it was upsetting him and she didn't want to hurt him. He was down enough as it was without her extra help. Perhaps it was time to lighten the situation. "All that matters is that you need a new wardrobe and you're with the right person. I'm sure I can find you something that's fashionable that will also suit your tastes."

Adrenaline suddenly filled her at the idea of getting to spend hours dressing Raimundo up. Though, she thought the idea made her feel a bit hotter than it should do. Banishing that thought to corner of her mind for another time, she pulled her arm from his and grabbed his hand instead.

"Alright, time to shop!" She yelled, throwing a punch into the air with her free hand before proceeding to drag Raimundo off though the crowd.

"Kim, where the Hell are we going?"

"This shop I found, it's kinda small but I think it will suit your tastes."

"Yeah well the shirt back there suited my tastes but you didn't let me buy it."

Kimiko rolled her eyes as she dragged the brunette through the crowds. Her hand firmly grasping his. Her fingers were linked with Raimundo's, his hand warm yet comforting within her grasp. She could feel the heat orienting from his hand to her own hand and up her arm. She didn't usually hold hands with boys, unless she was dragging them along and even if she did she usually let go pretty quickly, once she was sure that they would follow her. She knew Raimundo would follow her but she still didn't want to let go of his hand just yet. The odd butterfly sensations rattling around in her stomach was nice and she didn't want it to go just yet.

"That shirt was soooo out of fashion. I'm sorry Rai; you would have been a laughing stock."

Kimiko grinned as she heard Raimundo grumble behind her. Despite the fact that he was quite obviously not enjoying shopping with her, he trusted her to choose his clothes. He wasn't as appearance oriented as she was but it did matter to him. And he trusted her judgement enough to let her choose. And to let her drag him through the town centre for hours on end. Knowing that made her insides warm, her fingertips tingle with an odd kind of adrenaline. Making them flicker with nervous energy against Raimundo's hand. Who didn't seem to notice her excitement.

"Ah here." Skidding to a stop she proceeded to tug Raimundo through the door.

The shop was relatively empty. The walls were a pale blue, with row upon row of clothes lining the wall. A small till was in the far corner of the room, a blonde woman behind it who was filing her nails. And to the back of the shop were a number of changing room, their curtains pulled back to reveal full length mirrors. Grinning, she let go of Raimundo's hand, turning towards a rack of shirts.

"Come on Rai, look. I'm sure we'll find something." She murmured. Tugging a shirt out and holding it in front of Raimundo. Before shaking her head and putting it back on the rack. Turning around, Kimiko glanced over at the rest of the shop before breaking into a grin. Dashing over to the far end of the shop she tugged out a long sleeved top. It looked like it was a long sleeved shirt with a t-shirt over the top of it. The t-shirt was white with an orange logo on the front while the sleeves were green. But the long sleeves of the top were orange. Orange and green, two of Rai's favourite colours.

Perfect.

"Rai, this is so you! Try it on!" Kimiko squealed, turning starry eyes on her fellow Dragon. The brunette frowned, fingering one of the sleeves.

"I dunno . . ."

"Come on, you're the one that wanted a new look. Try it. You don't _have_ to buy it."

Raimundo sighed, snatching the top from Kimiko's hands and walked off to the changing rooms. Kimiko grinned and followed, picking up a pair of nice looking cargos on the way. They would go with the top so well, they had strips of orange material on the pockets that matched Rai's shirt, and they just so happened to be the _in_ thing at the moment.

"These too." She said, forcing them into Raimundo's hand before pulling the curtain across. Leaving him to change in peace. Dropping her bag onto the floor beside her, she propped herself up against the wall. Her eyes sweeping over the occupants of the small shop.

Though one can only stare at the same person for only a short amount of time. And Kimiko grew rather bored staring at the same girl as she tried to decide which shirt she liked better; the pink one with the big flower on the front or the pink one with two flowers on the front. Groaning Kimiko dropped her head back, closing her eyes as she thought. Raimundo had been kind of off today. He hadn't really talked to her much and, out of all the people at the Temple, she was the only one he really liked to talk to. They usually talked to each other about most things, seeing as they were both into the same kind of hobbies. Of everyone here she and Rai were usually always on the same wavelength. She found it weird that he wouldn't want to talk to her about it. She also didn't like the annoying sensations it gave her. Like there was a gaping void in her stomach that was sucking all the happiness out of her. She didn't like the way Raimundo invaded all her thoughts, they way he made her worry all the time. No, she didn't like it at all. She had to get him to talk. To tell her what was going on. She had to know. Had to know if she could help him because, some part of her, desperately wanted to see him happy.

"Rai?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you want a new look?"

Raimundo paused, the sound of clothes rustling freezing as well. The tension in the air was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Kimiko could only stare desperately at the shut curtain, longing for an answer, longing for Raimundo to just say something, anything!

"Call it a shedding of skin. New attitude. New Look."

He wanted to forget.

She could hear it in the way he said it. In the way his voice suddenly sounded so much wiser than his sixteen years. The way that hurt, depressed tone entered his voice as he spoke. He had made a mistake, a mistake that would haunt him for years to come. But a part of him wanted to prove he wouldn't do it again. He wanted them to forget that he had betrayed them, just long enough for him to redeem himself. Changing his clothes was a way of saying he had changed inside as well. He wanted them to see that, see that he was trying to redeem himself. Though, with their attitudes at the moment, that might be considered impossible.

But he was trying anyway.

"Rai . . ." Kimiko whispered, unsure how to comfort him. How to encourage him when redeeming himself seemed so unluckily. How to find the words to tell him that everything would be okay when it all seemed so helpless? He helped her out once again though, tugging the curtain back he stepped out.

"What do you think?" He asked, his eyes unsure. Kimiko turned and grinned. He looked good. A whole new Rai. A whole new gorgeous Rai.

"Fantastic! You _so_ have to buy that."

"Uh huh." He murmured, a small smile spreading across his lips. Not his usual cocky smile but one that made his eyes sparkle and the small dimple at the side of his face appear. It made Kimiko's heart hammer against her ribcage so loud up she was sure the entire shop would turn round to stare at her any second now.

"So you like my new look, huh?" He asked, still smiling at her. Kimiko nodded, a slight frown creasing her brow.

"Yeah, but I think you need to . . ." Standing on her tiptoes she reached forward and dragged a hand trough his hair, ruffling it. Locks of dark brown fell into his eyes making him seem even more boyish and charming than he already was.

"There." She whispered, a blush spreading across her cheeks. "Perfect."

Raimundo stared at her, an unnameable expression on his face.

"No."

"Huh?"

"The only thing perfect around here is you."

Kimiko's heart dropped out her feet and her face suddenly turned the colour of a tomato as she stared at her friend. Who was totally unfazed by the rather suggestive comment he had just made.

"Come on Girl, we need to go by these so I can get outta here. You know, you like shopping way too much."

"No I do not! There's no such thing as too much shopping."

"Whatever Kim." Raimundo muttered, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her towards the till.

"Don't you whatever me Raimundo." She muttered irritably, though if he had turned round he would have seen the soft smile on her face as she looked up at him. Glad that she could have helped her friend in his time of need. Though perhaps she was only relay glad because he had called her perfect.

Because really, there was nothing better than being called perfect by the guy you secretly liked.

_Fin._

I was watching my episodes of Xiaolin Showdown and the idea suddenly hit me. So here it is, hope you liked it.


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